Standing nude at the entrance of a large gothic building, I read from a paragraph torn from the Book of Revelations chapter 21 that describes heaven. I simultaneously climbed on and over the curves and crevices and manipulated my body to mimic the buildings’ architectural shapes. After reading a verse telling of heavens’ gates made of 12 pearls, I tore bits of text into twelve pieces and offered them to viewers. I then finished the Biblical selection with Revelations 22:7, which states, “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” I squished the text into a ball and inserted it into my vagina.
This piece explores the context of structure as a physical presence and dictating construct through political, social and religious history. The movement meshed with vocals explores sexuality in and around contemporary fundamental Christianity’s patriarchal dismissal of the body as an object to be contained, constrained and separated from spirituality. The piece aims to investigate the relationship between the visceral and the static, between facets of soft and hard, and what realities exist between these physical and spiritual architectures.